Sedona

“Welcome to Sedona, the friendliest little town in Arizona…The blue of the sky reminded Cal of turquoise with striations of white made by the few streams of clouds. It reminded her of the American flag against the red of the desert and rock. Pride crept up from her soul, pride and peace…She felt her spirit expanding into the desert, howling at the moon, throbbing red against the hills. She was no longer a tumbleweed. She had roots, and this was her home. No one was going to take that away.” As Cal and her grandmother settle into Sedona, Cal snags a job as a tour guide for an up and coming resort where she encounters staff from all over. “There was Nia, who followed Mr. Courier to Arizona because she clearly loved him. There was the elevator that led to nowhere. There were the bureaucrats, politicians, wealthy locals, and the press who came to the grand opening of a somewhat over-the-top tourist attraction…Nothing was as it appeared at Belle Butte as if someone had placed strange lenses into her eyes that distorted the view.” Suddenly, Cal is faced with a moral and ethical dilemma: “Could she ignore Mark’s possible radioactive den under the butte in exchange for a new job and security? Could she be a part of Tommy’s undercover operation, drugs filtering throughout the desert thanks to his fields?” “People aren’t all good or all bad; they’re just people. Maybe the world would be better without a man like Tommy, or perhaps the world was full of them.” But Cal must determine her own destiny. “You can either be a tourist or become a local. Tourists don't live with us long because they don’t understand us. They come and spend a moment of their lives, and we give them a memory. Locals, well those are different animals. They endure the summer heat and the winter snow. They live through droughts and monsoons. They understand what it means to dig in and survive somewhere…You got to be tough, like those pines, like everything else that grows out in the desert. You’re no city girl now. You’re a desert girl…you’re a cactus starting to take root.” If Tommy and Mark want to draw guns for this land, that’s their business. Which side will Cal pick? The one that saves Sedona! Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and Sedona lights the fire of intrigue! Mystery, rivalry, legacy, a dash of romance, Kerry Fryar Freeman’s debut is as bright as a Sedona sunrise.